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Communication Research (communication + research)
Selected AbstractsGeneralizability in Communication ResearchHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 4 2002Michael A. Shapiro In communication research, attempts to enhance external validity usually focus on techniques to enhance the surface representativeness attained in a particular study. Such surface representativeness is a useful tool. However, a larger ability to generalize emerges from a constantly evolving scientific discourse across multiple studies about how social meanings and social behaviors impact outcomes. The resulting conceptual knowledge enables us to generalize about communication across a much wider range of persons, settings, times, and messages than does surface similarity. The findings of a study should be examined in light of its contribution to theory. The surface representativeness of a study is usually not a good indicator of contribution to theory. The discipline of communication, particularly journal editors and reviewers, bears a heavy responsibility to think about generalizability in the complex ways the topic requires. [source] Disciplines, Intersections, and the Future of Communication ResearchJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 4 2008Susan Herbst First page of article [source] Empirical Intersections in Communication Research: Replication, Multiple Quantitative Methods, and Bridging the Quantitative,Qualitative DivideJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 4 2008William L. Benoit First page of article [source] The Seven Deadly Sins of Communication ResearchJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 2 2008W. Russell Neuman We analyzed anonymized copies of the complete reviewer comments for 120 recent submissions to the Journal of Communication and attempted to identify the scholarly "sins" and "virtues" most frequently mentioned by the reviewers and most closely associated with the decision to publish the submission. We assessed levels of interreviewer agreement and patterns of evaluation in different subfields of communication scholarship. An explicit connection to a clearly identified theoretical corpus and novel findings or perspectives proved to be the most important predictors of publication. We discuss the ramifications of these findings for the current state of communication research. Résumé Les sept péchés mortels de la recherche en communication Nous avons analysé les copies anonymes des commentaires complets des lecteurs de 120 soumissions récentes au Journal of Communication. Nous avons tenté d'identifier les « péchés » et les « vertus » scientifiques les plus fréquemment mentionnés par les lecteurs et les plus étroitement associés à la décision de publier la soumission. Nous avons évalué les niveaux d'accord inter-lecteurs et jaugé les schémas d'évaluation dans différents sous-domaines de la recherche en communication. Un lien explicite à un corpus théorique clairement identifié et de nouveaux résultats ou perspectives furent les plus importants prédicteurs de publication. Nous commentons les ramifications de ces résultats en ce qui a trait à l'état actuel de la recherche en communication. Abstract Die sieben Todsünden der Kommunikationsforschung Wir analysierten die anonymisierten Reviewer-Kommentare der letzten 120 Einreichungen für das Journal of Communication und versuchten, wissenschaftliche "Sünden" und "Tugenden" zu identifizieren, die von den Reviewern am häufigsten erwähnt wurden und am stärksten mit der Entscheidung der Annahme des Manuskript zur Publikation verbunden waren. Außerdem haben wir das Maß an Übereinstimmung zwischen den Reviewern und Evaluationsmuster in verschiedenen Untergebieten der Kommunikationswissenschaft erhoben. Eine explizite Verknüpfung mit einem klar identifizierten theoretischen Korpus sowie neuartige Ergebnisse oder Perspektiven waren die wichtigsten Prädiktoren für eine Publikation. Wir diskutieren die Konsequenzen dieser Ergebnisse für die aktuelle Kommunikationsforschung. Resumen La Agresión Indirecta en las Películas de Dibujos Animados de Disney Los dibujos de caricaturas para niños han sido documentados como alguno de los programas más violentos de televisión actualmente en el aire, mostrando cerca de 3 veces más que la cantidad de violencia por hora de los programas que no son para niños (Wilson et al., 2002). No obstante, la violencia no es la única forma de agresión en televisión. La agresión indirecta (por ejemplo, el chusmerío, la distribución de rumores, la exclusión social) fue hallada en TV en proporciones que exceden los niveles de violencia corrientes (Coyne & Archer, 2004). A pesar de que la agresión indirecta (también llamada agresión relacional) ha sido examinada en programas populares de TV para adolescentes, no ha sido examinada en programas de TV ó películas para niños. Por lo tanto, el presente estudio tiene como objetivo examinar la frecuencia y la representación de la agresión indirecta en las películas animadas de Disney para niños. En general, las películas de Disney representaron 9.23 veces por hora de agresión indirecta. Cuando el conteo por personaje fue tenido en cuenta, la agresión indirecta fue representada por mujeres y hombres en niveles similares. La agresión indirecta fue representada más probablemente como injustificada y por los personajes "malos". Los personajes "altos en SES" entablaron agresión indirecta con más frecuencia que los "bajos en SES"ó aquellos personajes "de clase media." Comparados con la cantidad de violencia en los programas de TV para niños, la cantidad de agresión indirecta de las películas de Disney fue mucho menor y usualmente representada en formas que no facilitan la imitación. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] The Identity of Communication ResearchJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 3 2006Wolfgang Donsbach First page of article [source] Checking the Map: Critiquing Joanne Martin's Metatheory of Organizational Culture and Its Uses in Communication ResearchCOMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 3 2006Bryan C. Taylor Joanne Martin's scholarship has significantly influenced the study of organizational culture by communication scholars. Martin's recent metatheory seeks to "map" the "terrain" of perspectives commonly used to study organizational culture and argues for the use of multiple perspectives to produce more fruitful research. While acknowledging the benefits of this metatheory, we critique 2 of its problematic elements. Both arise from Martin's claims about the phenomena of organizational culture and the various perspectives through which they might be known. The first problem involves Martin's decoupling of ontology and epistemology, as well as her subsequent oscillation between 2 conflicting clusters of "onto-epistemological" claims. Partly as a result, Martin also overemphasizes the ideational dimensions of organizational culture, thereby inhibiting analysis of its production in and through communication. These problems may negatively affect how communication scholars conceptualize organizational cultural phenomena and analyze data. To mitigate these problems, we offer 2 readings derived from social constructionism, poststructuralism, and critical realism. These readings aid communication scholars in successfully using Martin's metatheory. We conclude by considering the implications of this critique for the development of metatheory in communication. [source] Framing Justice: Using the Concept of Procedural Justice to Advance Political Communication ResearchCOMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 4 2005John C. Besley Efforts aimed at increasing civic-mindedness must consider both what encourages and what discourages political engagement. Procedural justice argues that individuals care about the fairness of decision-making or deliberative procedures beyond whether the outcome of any future decision goes in their preferred direction. In turn, perceptions of procedural fairness influence participant satisfaction, commitment to the organization, perceived legitimacy of authorities, and willingness to volunteer on an organization's behalf. The concept of procedural justice holds significant promise for addressing questions in political communication research, particularly those examining the impacts of public engagement. Thus, we offer a synthesis of procedural justice research to support a model for studying procedural justice as a type of framing to which individuals are exposed during participation in civic life and, in so doing, try to make more explicit the previously implicit communicative aspects of procedural justice. [source] Humorous Communication: Finding a Place for Humor in Communication ResearchCOMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 4 2002Owen H. Lynch Humor literature can be split into two broad categories: (a) why individuals use humor (motivationally/psychologically) and (b) the function humor has within a social setting on society (sociologically). This paper argues that a communicative approach can be used as a connection between the psychological and sociological studies of humor. A new model is put forth as an area for future research in organizational communication that expands the humor process originally proposed in the sociological case study literature. [source] Conceptual Contributions of New Social Movements to Development Communication ResearchCOMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 4 2001Robert Huesca The field of development communication faces a critical juncture regarding its theoretical and pragmatic relevance due to both internal debates and criticisms, and external restructuring of political, economic, and social systems on a global scale. The internal debates and criticisms indicate, at best, that the field is in some degree of conceptual disarray and, at worst, that it is detrimental to the goals of improving the human condition materially and symbolically. The concomitant external changes to social systems constitute a daunting context that questions the legitimacy and rationale of development efforts while fostering new forms of social change. This article argues that the field must redirect its attention in order to respond to the persistence of substandard living conditions that demonstrate the continued relevance of development efforts in general, specifically by drawing from the findings of scholarship of new social movements, combining them with relevant areas from participatory communication for development research. [source] Mapping Global Media Policy: Concepts, Frameworks, Methods,COMMUNICATION, CULTURE & CRITIQUE, Issue 2 2010Marc Raboy This article seeks to address what we see as difficult yet necessary first steps toward meeting the challenges of analyzing the transformations in media and communication policy: defining the boundaries of what we actually mean by "global media policy (GMP)," providing a conceptualization of GMP as a domain, elaborating a consistent analytical framework, and addressing methodological implications. Our framework is part of a GMP mapping project that has been developed within the context of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, to address the issues faced by researchers and practitioners, as well as policymakers and advocates operating in this domain. In this article, we present an overview of the conceptual journey through which the GMP mapping project has evolved. Mapeando la Política Global de los Medios: Conceptos, Encuadres, Métodos Marc Raboy & Claudia Padovani Resumen Este artículo busca considerar lo que vemos como difícil pero necesarios pasos hacia el encuentro de los desafíos de analizar las transformaciones en la política de los medios y la comunicación: definiendo las fronteras de lo que significa "la política global de los medios" (GMP) actualmente, proveyendo una conceptualización de la GMP como un dominio, elaborando un encuadre analítico consistente, y tratando las implicancias metodológicas. Nuestro encuadre es parte de un proyecto de mapeo de la GMP que ha sido desarrollado dentro del contexto de la Asociación Internacional de los Medios y la Investigación en Comunicación, para tratar los asuntos que encuentran los investigadores y los practicantes, así como también los hacedores de políticas y los defensores operando en este dominio. En este artículo, presentamos un panorama del viaje conceptual a través del cual el proyecto de mapeo de la GMP se ha desarrollado. Schématiser les politiques médiatiques mondiales : concepts, cadres, méthodes Marc Raboy & Claudia Padovani Cet article traite de ce qui nous semble les premiers pas, difficiles mais nécessaires, d'une réponse aux défis de l'analyse des transformations dans les politiques des médias et des communications : définir les limites de ce que nous appelons les « politiques médiatiques mondiales » (global media policy, GMP); conceptualiser les GMP comme un domaine; élaborer un cadre analytique cohérent et traiter des conséquences méthodologiques. Notre cadre s'inscrit dans un projet de schématisation des GMP développé dans le contexte de l'International Association for Media and Communication Research, afin de traiter des enjeux auxquels font face chercheurs, professionnels, décideurs et militants qui ,uvrent dans ce domaine. Dans cet article, nous présentons un survol du trajet conceptuel le long duquel a évolué le projet de schématisation des GMP. Ein Aufriss globaler Medienpolitik: Konzepte, Rahmenbedingungen und Methoden Marc Raboy & Claudia Padovani Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit einem ersten notwendigen aber schwierigen Schritt, der getan werden muss, will man den Herausforderungen, die bei der Analyse der Transformationen von Medien- und Kommunikationspolitik entstehen, begegnen: eine Definition der Grenzen von dem, was wir mit ,,globaler Medienpolitik" eigentlich meinen, das Herausarbeiten eines Konzepts von globaler Medienpolitik als eine Domäne, Ausführungen zu einem konsistenten analytischen Rahmenkonzept und die Diskussion methodologischer Implikationen. Unser Rahmenkonzept ist Teil eines Projekts zu globaler Medienpolitik, das im Kontext der International Association for Media and Communication Research mit dem Ziel entwickelt wurde, Aspekte anzusprechen, die Forscher und Praktiker aber auch politische Entscheidungsträger und Fürsprecher, die in diesem Bereich arbeiten, beschäftigen. In diesem Artikel präsentieren wir den konzeptuellen Werdegang, aus dem das Projekt entstanden ist. [source] A Communication Researchers' Guide to Null Hypothesis Significance Testing and AlternativesHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 2 2008Timothy R. Levine This paper offers a practical guide to use null hypotheses significance testing and its alternatives. The focus is on improving the quality of statistical inference in quantitative communication research. More consistent reporting of descriptive statistics, estimates of effect size, confidence intervals around effect sizes, and increasing the statistical power of tests would lead to needed improvements over current practices. Alternatives including confidence intervals, effect tests, equivalence tests, and meta-analysis are discussed. Résumé Le guide du test de signification basé sur l,hypothèse nulle et de ses alternatives, à l'usage des chercheurs en communication Cet article offre un guide pratique pour l,utilisation du test de signification basé sur l'hypothèse nulle (NHST) et de ses alternatives. Il se concentre sur la manière d,améliorer la qualité de l'inférence statistique dans la recherche quantitative en communication. Une divulgation plus cohérente de la statistique descriptive, une évaluation de l,ampleur de l'effet, des intervalles de confiance autour de l,ampleur de l'effet et une augmentation de l,efficacité statistique des tests mèneraient à de nécessaires améliorations des pratiques actuelles. Des alternatives sont commentées, dont les intervalles de confiance, les tests d'effet, les tests d'équivalence et la méta-analyse. Abstract Anleitung und Alternativen zum Nullhypothesen-Signifikanztesten für Kommunikationsforscher Dieser Artikel bietet eine praktische Anleitung zum Gebrauch von Nullhypothesen-Signifikanztests und zu möglichen Alternativen. Der Fokus des Artikels liegt dabei auf der Qualitätsverbesserung von statistischen Inferenzschlüssen in der quantitativen Kommunikationsforschung. Eine konsistentere Dokumentation und Offenlegung von deskriptiver Statistik, Effektgrößen, Konfidenzintervallen der Effektgrößen und die Verbesserung der statistischen Power von Tests würden zu einer Optimierung der bislang üblichen Praxis führen. Alternativen wie Konfidenzintervalle, Effekttests, Äquivalenztests und Meta-Analysen werden diskutiert. Resumen Una Guía para los Investigadores de Comunicación sobre la Puesta a Prueba de la Significancia de la Hipótesis Nula y sus Alternativas Este artículo ofrece una guía práctica para el uso de la puesta a prueba de la significancia (NHST) de las hipótesis nulas y sus alternativas. El enfoque se centra en mejorar la calidad de la inferencia estadística de la investigación de comunicación cuantitativa. Reportes estadísticos descriptivos más consistentes, estimaciones del efecto de tamaño, intervalos de confianza alrededor del efecto de tamaño, y el incremento del poder estadístico de las pruebas podrían conducir hacia mejoras necesarias de las prácticas corrientes. Las alternativas, incluyendo intervalos de confianza, pruebas de efecto, pruebas de equivalencia, y meta-análisis, son discutidas. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] On Making Progress in Communication ScienceHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 4 2002Franklin J. Boster This essay advances practices for designing, analyzing, and reporting communication research. The arguments presented center around improving researchers' abilities to cumulate results across studies, but also apply to improving the utility of the individual study. Practices advocated include: (a) sophistication, falsification, and replication as important criteria for evaluating research design; (b) diminishing the importance of the null hypothesis statistical significance test, employing confidence intervals, and correcting correlations for both measurement error and range restriction when analyzing data; and (c) including both descriptive statistics and measures of the strength of bivariate relationships when reporting results. [source] Generalizability in Communication ResearchHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 4 2002Michael A. Shapiro In communication research, attempts to enhance external validity usually focus on techniques to enhance the surface representativeness attained in a particular study. Such surface representativeness is a useful tool. However, a larger ability to generalize emerges from a constantly evolving scientific discourse across multiple studies about how social meanings and social behaviors impact outcomes. The resulting conceptual knowledge enables us to generalize about communication across a much wider range of persons, settings, times, and messages than does surface similarity. The findings of a study should be examined in light of its contribution to theory. The surface representativeness of a study is usually not a good indicator of contribution to theory. The discipline of communication, particularly journal editors and reviewers, bears a heavy responsibility to think about generalizability in the complex ways the topic requires. [source] The Seven Deadly Sins of Communication ResearchJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 2 2008W. Russell Neuman We analyzed anonymized copies of the complete reviewer comments for 120 recent submissions to the Journal of Communication and attempted to identify the scholarly "sins" and "virtues" most frequently mentioned by the reviewers and most closely associated with the decision to publish the submission. We assessed levels of interreviewer agreement and patterns of evaluation in different subfields of communication scholarship. An explicit connection to a clearly identified theoretical corpus and novel findings or perspectives proved to be the most important predictors of publication. We discuss the ramifications of these findings for the current state of communication research. Résumé Les sept péchés mortels de la recherche en communication Nous avons analysé les copies anonymes des commentaires complets des lecteurs de 120 soumissions récentes au Journal of Communication. Nous avons tenté d'identifier les « péchés » et les « vertus » scientifiques les plus fréquemment mentionnés par les lecteurs et les plus étroitement associés à la décision de publier la soumission. Nous avons évalué les niveaux d'accord inter-lecteurs et jaugé les schémas d'évaluation dans différents sous-domaines de la recherche en communication. Un lien explicite à un corpus théorique clairement identifié et de nouveaux résultats ou perspectives furent les plus importants prédicteurs de publication. Nous commentons les ramifications de ces résultats en ce qui a trait à l'état actuel de la recherche en communication. Abstract Die sieben Todsünden der Kommunikationsforschung Wir analysierten die anonymisierten Reviewer-Kommentare der letzten 120 Einreichungen für das Journal of Communication und versuchten, wissenschaftliche "Sünden" und "Tugenden" zu identifizieren, die von den Reviewern am häufigsten erwähnt wurden und am stärksten mit der Entscheidung der Annahme des Manuskript zur Publikation verbunden waren. Außerdem haben wir das Maß an Übereinstimmung zwischen den Reviewern und Evaluationsmuster in verschiedenen Untergebieten der Kommunikationswissenschaft erhoben. Eine explizite Verknüpfung mit einem klar identifizierten theoretischen Korpus sowie neuartige Ergebnisse oder Perspektiven waren die wichtigsten Prädiktoren für eine Publikation. Wir diskutieren die Konsequenzen dieser Ergebnisse für die aktuelle Kommunikationsforschung. Resumen La Agresión Indirecta en las Películas de Dibujos Animados de Disney Los dibujos de caricaturas para niños han sido documentados como alguno de los programas más violentos de televisión actualmente en el aire, mostrando cerca de 3 veces más que la cantidad de violencia por hora de los programas que no son para niños (Wilson et al., 2002). No obstante, la violencia no es la única forma de agresión en televisión. La agresión indirecta (por ejemplo, el chusmerío, la distribución de rumores, la exclusión social) fue hallada en TV en proporciones que exceden los niveles de violencia corrientes (Coyne & Archer, 2004). A pesar de que la agresión indirecta (también llamada agresión relacional) ha sido examinada en programas populares de TV para adolescentes, no ha sido examinada en programas de TV ó películas para niños. Por lo tanto, el presente estudio tiene como objetivo examinar la frecuencia y la representación de la agresión indirecta en las películas animadas de Disney para niños. En general, las películas de Disney representaron 9.23 veces por hora de agresión indirecta. Cuando el conteo por personaje fue tenido en cuenta, la agresión indirecta fue representada por mujeres y hombres en niveles similares. La agresión indirecta fue representada más probablemente como injustificada y por los personajes "malos". Los personajes "altos en SES" entablaron agresión indirecta con más frecuencia que los "bajos en SES"ó aquellos personajes "de clase media." Comparados con la cantidad de violencia en los programas de TV para niños, la cantidad de agresión indirecta de las películas de Disney fue mucho menor y usualmente representada en formas que no facilitan la imitación. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] The Scary World in Your Living Room and Neighborhood: Using Local Broadcast News, Neighborhood Crime Rates, and Personal Experience to Test Agenda Setting and CultivationJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 3 2003Kimberly Gross This study tested 2 important theories in the history of mass communication research, agenda setting and cultivation, by comparing the effects of watching local television news with direct experience measures of crime on issue salience and fear of victimization. Direct experience was measured in 2 ways: (a) personal crime victimization or victimization of a close friend or family member, and (b) neighborhood crime rates. Using a random digit dial telephone survey of residents of the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, researchers found that local news exposure accounted for an agenda-setting effect but did not cultivate fear of being a victim of crime. By contrast, direct experience had no agenda-setting effect but did predict fear. [source] The importance of news media in pharmaceutical risk communication: proceedings of a workshop,,§PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 5 2005Felicia E. Mebane PhD Abstract In response to mass media's role in the national and global system of pharmaceutical risk communication, the Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) convened a ,think tank' session on the ,Importance of Media in Pharmaceutical Risk Communication'. Prominent journalists and experts from the pharmaceutical industry, academia, medical practice and government were invited to consider the benefits and challenges of improving the way we communicate the benefits and risks of therapeutics via mass media, especially news media. Workshop discussions revealed a paucity of systematic research directed towards understanding how and why news media report on therapeutic risk, the impact of this coverage and how coverage can be improved. Consequently, participants produced a research agenda capturing the key aspects of the flow of information around this topic, including the meaning of risk, how news audiences process and use therapeutic risk information in the news, how and why news organizations report on therapeutic risk, and the role and impact of the pharmaceutical industry, government officials and academic researchers as sources of therapeutic risk information. The workshop ended with a discussion on action items addressing what news professionals, representatives of regulatory agencies and the medical products industry, and academic researchers can and should do to enable news media to effectively report therapeutic risk information. In sum, this proceedings report provides an outline for developing mass media risk communication research, influencing the practices of journalists and expert sources and ultimately, improving the quality of the public's life. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Extended phenotypes as signalsBIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 2 2009Franziska C. Schaedelin ABSTRACT Animal signals may result from construction behaviour and can provide receivers with essential information in various contexts. Here we explore the potential benefits of extended phenotypes with a signalling function as compared to bodily ornaments and behavioural displays. Their independence of the body, their physical persistence and the morphological and cognitive conditions required for their construction allow unique communication possibilities. We classify various levels of information transfer by extended phenotype signals and explore the differences between secreted signals and signals resulting from collection and construction, which usually involve higher behavioural complexity. We examine evolutionary pathways of extended phenotypes with a signalling function with help of a comparative evaluation and conclude that often constructions first provide a direct fitness benefit, with a signalling function becoming more and more prominent during evolutionary progression. The abundance and variability of extended phenotypes as signals is impressive and provides unique possibilities for animal communication research. [source] Social Identity, Self-Categorization, and the Communication of Group NormsCOMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 1 2006Michael A. Hogg We articulate the role of norms within the social identity perspective as a basis for theorizing a number of manifestly communicative phenomena. We describe how group norms are cognitively represented as context-dependent prototypes that capture the distinctive properties of groups. The same process that governs the psychological salience of different prototypes, and thus generates group normative behavior, can be used to understand the formation, perception, and diffusion of norms, and also how some group members, for example, leaders, have more normative influence than others. We illustrate this process across a number of phenomena and make suggestions for future interfaces between the social identity perspective and communication research. We believe that the social identity approach represents a truly integrative force for the communication discipline. [source] Framing Justice: Using the Concept of Procedural Justice to Advance Political Communication ResearchCOMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 4 2005John C. Besley Efforts aimed at increasing civic-mindedness must consider both what encourages and what discourages political engagement. Procedural justice argues that individuals care about the fairness of decision-making or deliberative procedures beyond whether the outcome of any future decision goes in their preferred direction. In turn, perceptions of procedural fairness influence participant satisfaction, commitment to the organization, perceived legitimacy of authorities, and willingness to volunteer on an organization's behalf. The concept of procedural justice holds significant promise for addressing questions in political communication research, particularly those examining the impacts of public engagement. Thus, we offer a synthesis of procedural justice research to support a model for studying procedural justice as a type of framing to which individuals are exposed during participation in civic life and, in so doing, try to make more explicit the previously implicit communicative aspects of procedural justice. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||